Matt Hardy has praised Tony Khan for sitting down with two of AEW’s most prominent critics. Speaking on the latest episode of the Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy addressed Tony Khan’s appearance on the podcast hosted by Vince Russo and Jonathan Coachman. Hardy said he had not watched the full interview but had seen the clips, and came away impressed by how Khan handled himself.
“First and foremost, kudos to Tony Khan for stepping into a very uncomfortable situation. He seemed like he handled himself really, really well. The fact that you have people who have talked trash about AEW in the past, and the fact that Tony is willing to go on there, on that platform, and they do have a big platform, the fact that he was able to go on there and have a conversation with them, and it was all civility between all three of them, I thought was really good. Kudos to Tony Khan, because I feel like he just helped a lot of people look at him in a different light. I think that was a very positive thing for Tony Khan, and by translation, a positive thing for AEW in the big scheme of things. I think one of the greatest things you can do is talk and collaborate and see where it ends up going. The fact that people won’t talk to each other in these different scenarios, when someone is so drastically different from you, I think in a lot of ways, it ends up looking like a weakness. So I’m very proud of Tony Khan for doing that. I thought it was a real, to use a Hardy Boys future shirt coming up, I thought he showed that he had some guts and nuts to get on there and do it,” Hardy said.
Hardy also addressed the broader question of AEW’s long-term viability, saying the company has firmly established itself in the industry.
“AEW is not going anywhere. Who knows what happens with this whole TV deal coming up? But AEW has made a name for themselves. They have made their mark on the industry, and they’re going to be around for a while. Tony Khan loves wrestling more than you think you love wrestling. I can tell you that just from knowing him personally. I think, I think he did himself a favor by doing that deal with Vince Russo and Jonathan Coachman. He went on there and he handled himself very, very well. I just thought it was very mature of him to go into what feels like enemy territory and have a conversation with those guys,” Hardy said.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Extreme Life of Matt Hardy with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
